Not one penny of insured savings has ever been lost by a member of a federally insured credit union—Source: NCUA Publication 8046, November 2006

This fact should mean a great deal to Triangle Credit Union (TCU) members because when it comes to your money, safety and soundness of our financial institution matter. Member shares at TCU are insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), which is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. Share insurance is similar to the deposit insurance protection offered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Credit Unions that are insured by the NCUSIF must display in their offices the official National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA) insurance sign and no credit union may terminate its federal insurance without first notifying its members.

The federal insurance fund has several programs to help insured credit unions that may be experiencing problems—liquidation or failures are a last resort. If a federally insured credit union does fail, however, NCUSIF will make any necessary payouts to the credit union’s members. These payouts are usually done within 3 days from the time the credit union closes its doors. As a member of an insured credit union, you do not pay directly for your share insurance protection—Triangle takes care of the insurance expense on your behalf.

There are some commonly asked questions regarding the general rules and limitations that apply to insurance deposits, which are:

- Insurance is separate with each insured credit union; however, a “branch” office of a credit union is still part of the insured credit union.
- All accounts with the same credit union, owed by the same owners in the same “ownership” category, are treated as one account for the insurance limits. This means that opening a number of accounts with the same credit union will not, by itself, increase share insurance. The “ownership” of the accounts must also be different.
- Federally insured credit unions are insured up to the Standard Maximum Share Insurance Amount (SMSIA), which is $100,000 as of April 1, 2006—per
account ownership.
- Individual retirement accounts (IRAs), as qualified under Section 408(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, are separately insured up to $250,000 for the owner of the IRA.

For additional information and account rules, pick up the NCUA brochures at your local and convenient TCU branch or request copies by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).